Science Fun

The Leonid Meteor Shower is in progress and the peak of the show could yield 20 to 30 meteors per hour between the hours of 2100 and 2200 UT, today, November 17th. Folks in Asia could witness up to 200 or more per hour according to some forecasters.Right now, the Earth is passing through a zone of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, and this is the cause for the annual Leonid shower. The show this evening will be enhanced in the fact that the moon will be new and NASA scientists say this could be one of the best showers in years.

Not able to view the Leonid meteor shower? Tune into Spaceweather radio and listen to the live audio feed from the Air Force Space Surveillance Radar. When you hear a ping, it indicates a meteor streaked across the sky above the Air Force facility. Visit here to listen. http://spaceweatherradio.com/

Visit www.spaceweather.com and http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/10nov_leonids2009.htm for further information on the Leonid Meteor Shower.

Astronomy happenings for the week include an astronomical gathering at the White House this evening. President Obama will host a ‘star party’ for middle school students on the South Lawn of the White House. Selected guest astronomers will be on hand to show the guests the moons of Jupiter and a bright Iridium flare, which is about all you can see the from light polluted skies of Washington D. C. It is hoped that these guests will be inspired to show and interest in astronomy and visit a dark sky observatory or study further in the field of Astronomy.

A planned lunar impact is coming up on this Friday when NASA will send its LCROSS spacecraft and its booster rocket crashing into the surface of the moon. Further details available on NASA at www.nasa.gov, and the event will be televised on NASA TV.

This day is very busy in the realm of ‘space weather’! First up is to set your clock and crawl out of bed tomorrow (Wednesday, September 16th) at dawn for an excellent view of Venus rising next to the moon at 7% crescent.

Solar activity is up today according to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Solar prominence has been high on the sun’s southeastern limb. If you have a solar telescope, aim towards that region and enjoy a great view – image in this post is from the observatory via spaceweather.com.

The autumn equinox is approaching and so are the Northern Lights! For reasons unexplained by astronomers, the times around the equinoxes are some of the best times to view the Northern Lights.

It was another exciting day at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center today as the long anticipated opening of the center’s observatory took place. In March, 2009, the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium was transformed into a new center and opened its doors to the public. Sections of the center are opening in phases as funding and equipment are made available, today was the opening of a new phase!

The observatory is equipped with a 14” Celestron scope, a solar scope, CCD imaging system where images from the observatory can be projected on plasma display screens throughout the Discovery Center.

As part of the observatory celebration, a new show in the planetarium theater was shown “Two Small Pieces of Glass”. This presentation showcases the development of the telescope from the telescope that Galileo used 400 years ago to the technology that drives the modern telescope of today. This is an excellent history lesson in telescopes and optics.

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center is proud of its new addition and this observatory will only further enhance the mission of the center to “explore, discover, and be inspired”. For hours of operation, events, and Discovery Center information, please visit www.starhop.com.

Native Americans of the northern and eastern part of the United States tracked the seasons by giving a unique name to each of the full moons. This name was for the entire month that the full moon occurred in. The name of the full moon and variations of its name was used by the Algonquin Indian tribes from New England to Lake Superior.Full Harvest Moon is the name for the Full Moon that occurs in September and is the full moon that is closest to the autumn equinox. If the Harvest Moon occurs in October, the September full Moon is usually called the Corn Moon. September is the month of harvest, when the Native Americans would bring in their crops. Barley is another name for this month’s full Moon as it is also harvested in September.

Moon phases for September are the Full Moon on the 4th day, 12th hour and 3rd minute. Last Quarter will occur on the 11th at 22:16, the New Moon will happen on the 18th at 14:44 and the First Quarter will happen on the 26th at 0:50. All times are in Eastern Daylight Time.

It is fitting that in 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, that we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the telescope. On August 25, 1609, Galileo introduced the telescope and began stargazing in Padua, Italy. “Galileo Galilei was the first modern scientist, and when he looked at the sky in 1609, his telescope changed everything – the way we view the universe, and our place in it and ourselves” – Ed Krupp, Director of the Griffith Observatory.

In 1609 following the introduction of the telescope, Galileo worked and made some very important astronomical discoveries. He saw the Moon, the Milky Way, and four of the 13 satellites of Jupiter, with one of them being Ganimede. He confirmed the Sun-centered theory of Copernicus and on March 12, 1610, he published the findings of his studies in the publication “Sidereus Nuncius”.

Gailileo’s first telescope was only eight- powered, which was smaller than the hobby scopes you might buy in the department stores. This first scope lead Galileo on an extraordinary voyage of the heavens as he discovered the phases of Venus, enjoyed the highlands and ‘seas’ of the moon, and inspired us all to look upward and to discover and enjoy the universe around us.

Here are a few ‘did you knows’ to enjoy about Gailileo. He became blind by the age of 74 and probably never looked at the sun directly. He observed Neptune in 1612, but thought it was a distant star. Galileo also observed Saturn’s rings, but to him, they appeared as two separate bodies attached to the planet. Galileo tried to measure the speed of light by placing observers with lanterns about a quarter mile apart, he was unsuccessful with this event, however, he did make the first working thermometer, although it was not very accurate.

Thanks to Bob over at Blackholes and astrostuff for introducing me to the Galileoscope, which prompted me to do some fun research for this post and to order up one of these do-it-yourself telescope kits. For a very reasonable price of $20 plus shipping, you can have a fun scope to enjoy the heavens. You will learn about the ‘innards’ of a telescope as well as the fundamentals of optics and magnification as you assemble your scope.

I work at Northeast Delta Dental, and in early October, we celebrate National Customer Service Week. This year our theme is ‘space’, and we are teaming up with our neighbor, the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center for a fun filled week on learning good Customer Service skills and having fun. As we tie in the theme of space and astronomy, I hope to introduce the Galileo scope to both organizations, maybe as prizes for some of the Customer Service Week games and contests, but also for the Discovery Center to display and offer through their science store.

Learn more about Galileo and 400 years of the telescope by ordering the PBS video below. Material for this article from solar-center.stanford.edu/galileo/ and from Wikipedia.